


With Our Young Nation

by Soliloquies_And_Sweets (Huffleclaw_Hamilfan)



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Frances Laurens is honestly my favorite, It's also on fanfiction.net and there're probably more chapters there, also you should know that my chapter lengths are really inconsistent, but she's not here until chapter 14 so, bye, i don't really know what i'm doing, i hope this makes sense, please help, sorry about that, this is my first fanfiction on Ao3
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-17
Updated: 2016-08-13
Packaged: 2018-07-24 14:52:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7512487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Huffleclaw_Hamilfan/pseuds/Soliloquies_And_Sweets
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He wants to prove his greatness to make his family proud. She is ahead in her education, thanks to her father's influence. He is an introverted writer, an insecure poet. She is an extroverted adventurer, an emotional dreamer. Philip Hamilton and Theodosia Burr have just met, and their friendship has begun. Where will it take them?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Blow Them All Away

Philip waltzed out the door on his first day of kindergarten. He was all grown up. He was the oldest Hamilton kid in his house, and he was going to go to school and make his father proud!  
His mother walked behind him, ushering him out the door. “Now, Philip, have a good day at school, sweetie! I hope- oh, dear.” Eliza Hamilton’s goodbye to her son was cut off by a scream and the crash of a bowl. Philip’s one-year-old brother had just knocked his breakfast off the kitchen table. “Oh, dear. Al. I have to clean that up. Alexander! You need to get out of the house more anyway, can you take your son to school, please?” A grunt from inside the house signaled Philip’s father’s approval. Eliza turned back to Philip and put her hands on his shoulders. “Philip, I’ll see you later. Make sure to blow everyone away!” With one last kiss on the cheek, she swept her dress around and rushed back in.  
A second later, fumbling with a packet of papers and his glasses nearly falling off his face, Philip’s father showed up at the door. Despite his frantic state, the man managed a grin. “All ready, big boy?” Philip smiled. It was exciting, going to school. He couldn’t wait to tell everyone that his father was Alexander Hamilton, who had some big political position. Philip didn’t really know, but he had seen his father’s name in the paper and sometimes picked up parts of his dad’s rambling conversations.  
As they walked to Princeton Elementary School, Philip imagined what it would be like. He assumed he would make a lot of friends really quickly, like he had in daycare. He assumed the teachers would adore him, like all adults seemed to. He assumed that no one would mess with him, and if they did, they would have to answer to his father. His fantasies were interrupted by his father’s voice. The two were standing right outside the colorfully decorated door of Room 11. “Alright, Philip, we’re here. You have a good day, yeah?” Philip once again was flooded with happiness. He couldn’t wait to meet everyone in his class, and he was ready to make his father proud.  
“Yeah, daddy! I love you!” He gave his father a quick kiss on the cheek, then didn’t glance behind again as he bounced cheerfully into the classroom.  
He’ll be okay, thought Alexander. I know he will.

Only a couple of people were in the room when Philip entered. One was his teacher, a pretty woman with long brown hair. The other was a young boy who was wearing a name tag that read “George Eacker”. Philip walked over to him. “Hi,” he said, suddenly nervous.  
“Hi. Who are you?”  
“I’m Philip, and my daddy is Alexander Hamilton! He’s really famous.”  
“I’m George. My daddy doesn’t like your daddy. He says he’s no good.”  
Philip was outraged. How dare this boy say anything against his precious father? His father was perfect. He was smart, rich, and everyone knew him! “Well,” Philip countered, “you’re ugly. My daddy isn’t ugly. Or stupid. Or-”  
“Georgie?”  
A new voice came from across the room. A girl had entered. She was smaller than Philip and George, and looked younger. Her dark hair was braided carefully and she wore a pretty white dress, but it had a mud stain on the front of it that looked fresh. “Hi Georgie!” She hustled across the room and wrapped her arms around the other boy, who looked slightly alarmed and embarrassed.  
“Hi, Theodosia-”  
“Yeah, I’m Theo! I like horses! I’m only four but my daddy’s daddy used to be the principal and so my daddy got me in early! He says I’m really smart! What’s your name? Are you really smart?” She turned her large eyes toward Philip, who was quite shocked at this hyper girl’s sudden appearance.  
“Well,” he began, “ my name is Philip. A bunch of people said I’m smart. I think I’m smart. I-” He was cut off by the teacher, who stood at the front of the room and told them to find a seat.  
“I’m sitting with Georgie,” said the chipper girl. “He’s my friend. Do you want to be my friend?”  
“Sure,” said Philip. He liked Theodosia.  
“Well, then come sit with us! Friends sit together! You can be Georgie’s friend too.” George grumbled a little but followed Theodosia, who grabbed Philip by the arm and pulled him over to a desk.  
“Ok,” Philip replied. He was going to impress George somehow. He was going to make his father proud of him. And he was going to be the best friend to Theodosia ever.


	2. Dinner and Telephone Calls

When the school day was over, Philip was even more excited than he had been that morning. His teacher led the class to the cafeteria for dismissal, where they waited for their parents.  
“I liked learning about the alphabet today. I already knew some of it though. My mommy taught me a little!” Theodosia seemed no less cheerful as she had that morning. Suddenly she noticed someone waving for her- a woman who resembled Theo very closely. Philip inferred that was Theo’s mother, as she promptly got up and started to run towards the woman before stopping one last time. “Bye Georgie and Philip! You are my friends!” She tried to wrap her arms around George again, but he pushed her off lightly. She was only deterred for a moment, turning to Philip and putting a smile on her face once more. She gave him a quick, light hug, different from the tight one he had seen her give George that morning. Then, waving once more, she ran off towards her mother.  
George and Philip watched Theo go, and once she and her mother were gone, the boys turned to each other. They stayed silent. Theodosia was the only reason they had interacted at all after meeting that day, and they weren’t about to become best friends now. Fortunately Philip heard his name being called, and looking up, he saw his mother holding his younger brother Al and the hand of his sister Angie. He briefly glanced at George before scampering away.  
“Hi Mom!” He embraced his mother.  
“Hi, Phil! You seem excited,” she commented, ruffling his hair. Angie stood at her side, pouting. Obviously she did not like being dragged along to Philip’s school. Nevertheless, she smiled slightly when Philip came over to them.  
“Yeah! School was fun! I have a friend.”  
“Oh, really? Who is it?” His mother’s face shone with genuine interest and care as the family began to walk home. The Hamiltons didn’t live far from Princeton Elementary, it was only a block away from their house, and it only took them about five minutes to get from one place to the other.  
“Well, I have two friends. One of them is called George but I don’t like him very much. The other one is called Theodosia.” He pronounced the name slowly and carefully, because it was long and he didn’t want to mess up in front of his mom.  
“That’s very nice, dear. Maybe you could invite them over sometime?”  
“Sure! Except I don’t really want George to come over. He’s mean sometimes. He said bad things about Dad. But I like Theodosia a lot. She could come over.”  
Once more, Eliza Hamilton smiled. Her child was growing up so fast. She wondered where his life would take him.

It was mildly crowded at the Hamilton family’s kitchen table that night, as always. Alexander sat with Eliza on his left and Angie on his right, across from Philip. Al’s booster seat was next to Eliza so she could feed the youngest child. Angie was picking grumpily at her green beans and Al was flinging food that he disliked back at his mother. Alexander and Eliza shared a quick smile at the craziness of their growing family, then Alexander switched his attention to Philip. “So! How was your first day of Kindergarten?”  
Philip giggled. He had so much to talk about! “It was good! I made some friends.”  
“Oh, nice! And who are they?” Alexander switched places with Eliza and began to feed his younger son while humoring Philip’s excitement by pampering him with questions.  
“One of them is George, and the other one is Theodosia…”  
Alexander’s face fell. It became a look of surprise, suspicion, and cold anger all at once. Trying to keep his calm, he responded carefully: “Theodosia… who, Phil? What was her last name?”  
Not sensing any problem, Philip happily continued talking. “Something like ‘bird’ or ‘fur’ or something like that. Our teacher only told us once. She called roll at the beginning of class. And guess what, daddy! When she got to my name I could tell she knew that my last name was famous! I bet she knows who you are from the news or something! Daddy, isn’t that cool?”  
“Yeah, Phil. Sure is.” Alexander replied in a deadpan. Only Eliza could tell, but Philip’s father knew who his son’s new best friend was, and he was not happy with it.

Philip was in bed. His mother had just tucked him in and kissed him goodnight. He was full, he was happy, and he was content- except for one thing. He was still waiting for his father to come say goodnight to him. It was an evening ritual- Alexander always came and said goodnight to Philip. Even being one of the busiest politicians around, he always found time to. Tonight, he was late, and Philip wanted to know why.  
Through the wall of his room, he heard a noise. The young boy jumped, at first scared of a monster coming into his room, but soon realized that his father had just walked by and gone into his office. Philip was confused, and sat pondering this for a couple of seconds until he heard something else: several beeps coming from the office next door. The sound was familiar- the dialing of the house phone. Why would his father be calling someone this late at night before coming to see him?  
At the edge of his bed with his ear pressed against the wall, Philip waited to hear what happened next. For a second it was quiet until-  
“Alexander!” A muffled sound came from the phone, and Philip could just barely make out the words.  
“Aaron Burr, sir.”  
“And just why exactly am I being graced with your voice tonight, Alex?”  
“Your daughter. Theodosia. Yes?” That startled Philip. What did Theo have to do with anything? And why did his father sound so angry about her?  
“What about her?”  
“Why is she in my son’s Kindergarten class? She’s only three!”  
“Because she’s smart, and because I have influence. My father used to be the principal, you see.”  
“I don’t care, Burr. Just keep her away from my son. He won’t shut about her!” Had he really been talking about her that much? Okay, he probably had, but why did anyone care?  
“I don’t see how I can keep her away, Alexander, when this is the best elementary school in the area and I doubt that either one of us is willing to forfeit that. What’s so bad about them being friends anyway?” That’s precisely what Philip wanted to know.  
His father’s voice softened a bit. “It’s not so much them, Burr, as it is us. Let’s face it- we’re friends but we don’t get along. I just want my son to be happy, and having us as fathers will endanger that.”  
The other voice had become cold. “Alexander, if you want your son to be happy, you should let him be friends with a perfectly nice person who he likes and gets along with. I don’t foresee anything particularly good coming out of their being friends, but it’s not our place to interfere just yet. Besides, I’m not pulling my daughter out of an excellent school so you can ruin your child’s social life by trying to help them.”  
“Burr-”  
“Goodnight, Alexander.”  
“Burr, just listen-!”  
“Goodnight, Alexander.”  
“Burr- hey!”  
But the line had gone dead.  
Slinking back under his covers, Philip tried to contemplate what he’d just heard, but he was exhausted and confused, and nothing stopped him from slipping into a deep sleep with no further thought put into the situation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm posting another today because fight me  
> Comments and stuff are nice  
> Criticism is nice too  
> Meh notes are hard


	3. The Next Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The next day.  
> Also this is completely too short I'm sorry.

“Bye, sweets!” Eliza called to her son as he hastily gave her a kiss and ran off towards his school. Philip was even more excited than he had been the day before. Today, his mother wasn’t required to walk him all the way to his classroom like Alexander had yesterday, and even though Eliza had fussed over him about how she was worried that he’d get lost on the way there, Philip wanted to go on his own. It made him feel grown up and responsible, and he wanted to impress everyone with his independence.  
Philip hadn’t forgotten the conversation he had overheard the previous night. It worried him. He didn’t want to stop talking to Theo, but he had to make his father happy. He couldn’t let him down. He would have to end their friendship. His father would be proud of him, he knew. He would do it, in class, that morning.  
When Philip got to class, he saw that Theodosia was already there. His excitement had dulled slightly at his realization of what he had to do, but he was going to be strong. He took a deep breath, set down his backpack, and walked over to Theo.  
When she noticed him, Theo jumped up in excitement and ran over to him, giving him a big hug. “Hi Philip! I missed you.” Philip tried to lightly push her away. He was terrified about what he was about to tell her, but he had to do it.  
“Um… Theodosia… my daddy doesn’t think we should be friends.”  
At first, Theo only seemed confused, not upset. “But… why? Does he hate me?” That was when the sadness started to show. Her bottom lip shook a little. Philip could see she was trying not to cry. He felt horrible.  
“Well, I kind of spied on him so I’m not supposed to know about it, but he said that he wants me to be happy and your daddy is not going to get along with mine and something like that…” He trailed off. What was he doing?  
Theodosia looked up. Her eyes were a little bit wet, but she seemed to have come up with an idea. “Let’s not tell him, then.”  
Philip was slightly shocked at the idea- lie to his father? What kind of terrible idea was that? “But… that’s lying. Mommy said lying was wrong. We shouldn’t lie.”  
Theodosia, however, seemed set on the idea. “But it’s good, in this case, because everyone is happy! He’s happy because he doesn’t know we’re friends, and we’re happy because we are friends!”  
Once again, Philip tried to protest. “What about your daddy? Do we have to lie to him too?”  
“Maybe. It doesn’t matter.” Theodosia finished with a nod. Philip sighed. There was nothing he could do. Clearly, nothing would change Theo’s mind. Maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea anyway. As long as it worked, everything would be good in the end.  
“Okay. I guess we can try it.” At that moment, George rushed in, interrupting their conversation. Soon, the teacher called them to their seats, and that day’s lesson began. Philip wasn’t paying much attention, though. He was thinking about Theodosia, and how close he came to losing his new best friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who left kudos! Kudos, comments, etc. always appreciated!


	4. For Theodosia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A piano recital.

*****February- a piano recital, at Princeton Elementary*****  
Philip sat at the piano. He was distracted. Over two hundred kids and parents from his school were staring at him, and he couldn’t seem to focus.  
But the many people weren’t the problem. He’d performed plenty of times before. It was Theodosia and her parents that were the problem.  
The two had stayed friends after meeting in Kindergarten. George was still friends with Theo too, and Philip and George had learned to tolerate each other. The trio taken their first three-and-a-half years of education by storm, and were ready to move on to the upper grades. They were led mostly by Theo, being the youngest but also the bossiest. Over the course of the few years, their classmates had stayed with them, as it was a small school with only one class per grade. Philip, George, and Theo had learned their way around and established general rules: who to avoid and who to be nice to, when it was unacceptable to speak out against the teacher and when it was witty and appreciated, what to say and what not to say.  
The first part of that was the easiest for Philip. He categorized his classmates by basic personality and actions, and let those reputations stay firmly in place. He had his group of friends, Theo and George, whom he referred to as the Close Ones. There were two girls in his class, Dolly and Martha, who would always look at him and giggle. He called them the Silly Ones. There was a boy called Joseph, who would blush and look away anytime Theodosia got close. Philip didn’t trust him. He called Joseph the Red One, after his notorious blushing. It was simple to Philip, and he liked it that way.  
Theodosia was the difficult one. They had managed to keep their friendship quiet, to please their parents, but it was hard. They hadn’t ever told George about their agreement, so he was a risk. He could tell anyone he wanted about Theo and Philip being friends, but Philip sensed that he knew that it would hurt Theodosia and wouldn’t risk it. So they had managed. They had hidden the fact that they even talked anymore. And it worked.  
Yet he was nervous today, because he wanted to talk to Theodosia, wanted desperately to impress her with his music, but he couldn’t do anything that would let their fathers know about them! He sat on the hard piano bench and took a deep breath. Over a hundred people are waiting. I just need to play.  
He tested the first note. A phone started ringing somewhere in the audience, throwing him off. Briefly, he glanced back. Theodosia’s mom was fumbling with her purse, trying to stop the ring. Theo’s father was watching his wife. Theo was only watching Philip. Wide eyes, an encouraging smile, she never took her attention away.  
Philip turned back to the piano. The phone had stopped making sound. He started to play.  
The notes started a little slowly- he hit a wrong note at one point- but soon they came easily. He was playing Beethoven’s Für Elise, but it was not “for Elise”, as the title suggested. It was for Theodosia. He wanted to make her proud, wanted to impress her, wanted to show her that he was an excellent musician.  
When the song was over, Philip was almost scared to leave the piano, to turn around and see the girl that he had tried so hard to blow away with his music. He was worried that she would be upset or dissatisfied with it, but no. He turned around and as he was heading to his seat, stole a glance at Theo. She was beaming. She was trying so hard, he could tell, to not look at him, to contain her smile. They had worked themselves into a difficult situation, where everything was always on the line and the consequences kept growing. But there was no going back now.

Theodosia Burr couldn’t keep her smile in. Right before he’d started to play, Philip had locked eyes with her, and she couldn’t forget that. He was such a nice friend, always so kind and sweet, and yet they were so… separate, because they had to be.  
She couldn’t forget that they needed to stay apart. She didn’t. But what she did do was something very risky: she looked back over at him, standing with his parents, having descended from the stage where the piano was. Her father and mother were looking away, so she took the opportunity. He was cheerfully babbling to his mother, who was holding his little brother James’ hand and gently shushing Philip, as Dolly was preparing to play a song. Theo hadn’t even realized that she had been staring until Philip’s father looked up. Upon making eye contact with the young girl, his eyes narrowed and Theo hastily glanced away. Dolly started to play, but Theo couldn’t devote all of her attention to the tune. She was worried about Mr. Hamilton, and what he would do. As she listened to Dolly’s song, she felt dread fill her up. She had ruined it all.

The parking lot was cold and empty. Almost everyone else had already left, but the Burrs and the Hamiltons were still there. Aaron Burr’s wife, who shared Theodosia’s name, had realized that Dolly’s mother went to the same college as her, thereby striking up and long conversation as Burr and young Theo waited to leave. Alexander Hamilton, however, was waiting for Burr.  
Alexander rushed over to Burr, who was drifting away from his wife’s conversation. As he set a hand on Burr’s shoulder, Burr jumped, then, realizing who he was facing, audibly sighed. “Yes, Alexander?”  
Hamilton pulled Burr farther away from the others, into a small alcove in the side of the school. “Burr, I thought my son had severed ties with your daughter. I thought it was over. I thought I didn’t have to worry about your influence anymore. I thought-”  
“Alexander! Calm down. My daughter is a person as much as any other kid is. I don’t see why you think I’m going to ruin your son’s life. Theodosia makes him happy. We shouldn’t interfere.”  
“That’s what you say, but if we fight, like we have- don’t deny it! We fight all the time!- it will break their hearts!”  
“Sometimes broken hearts strengthen friendships!”  
“Sometimes they don’t!”  
“Alexander-”  
“I just want my son to be happy!” He was practically roaring now. Burr was not moved.  
“Yes, you’ve made that clear. But come one, Alex. They’ve gone so far as to hide this from us- well, mostly from you. They’re frightened. That’s not how you make someone happy. Let’s try letting them be. Until something actually happens where my daughter affects your son in a bad way, we let go.”  
“Daddy?” As Alexander was about to answer, a high-pitched voice came from around the corner. Theodosia, ran up to her father and gave him a tight hug. Then she realized who he had been talking to. She froze, then began to back away.  
“Wait!” Burr stretched out a hand to Theodosia, who, rather reluctantly, grabbed hold of it. “Mr. Hamilton has something he’d like to say.”  
Hamilton made eye contact with Burr. “Until something goes wrong?” Hamilton mouthed.  
Burr nodded. “Deal. We let them be.”  
Bending down to level his face with Theo’s, Alexander smiled. “I heard that you and my little Philip are friends. Maybe you can come over sometime, and spend some time at our place with him?”  
Theodosia looked suspicious, but nodded carefully. She looked worried about what Hamilton’s motives might be for suddenly being so nice, but decided to accept it.  
As Burr and Theodosia headed towards their car where Burr’s wife was already waiting, Alexander thought about what he’d just done. Had it been the right thing? He’d find out soon enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments, kudos, etc. always appreciated!! :)


	5. When You Smile

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fluff?

*****September- the Hamilton household, before a school “Sock Hop”*****  
“Come on, it’ll be fun!”  
“But I don’t WANT to go.”  
“Philip…”  
Philip was sitting at the desk in his room, playing on his father’s phone. “I’m busy.”  
Eliza, clearly deciding that she would have none of that, marched over to Philip and snatched the phone from his hands. “Hey!” He whined, but his attention was focused on his mother rather than the game he’d just been playing.  
“This,” Eliza scolded, “is exactly why you’re not getting a phone.”  
Philip didn’t respond directly to that, but under his breath muttered, “Georgie has a phone.”  
His mother overheard that and frowned. “George plays two sports and is part of several community and school clubs! Not to say that your poetry and piano talents aren’t great, but you never leave the house unless you have to, which is another reason you should-”  
“I DON’T WANT TO GO TO THE SOCK HOP!”  
“You’re not social. We’re going to the sock hop. You’ll like it, your friends will probably be there. Theodosia’s mother says she wants Theo to go.”  
This fact shut Philip up. “Fine, I’ll go. But only if I have to.” Turning to his desk, he took out his poetry journal and grumpily turned to an empty page. “What kind of name for a school party even is ‘Sock Hop’?” The boy grumbled. He would go, if only for Theodosia and his mother. But he wasn’t going to enjoy it.

*****Same day- in the Princeton Elementary School cafeteria*****  
The cafeteria was brightly decorated with fake Hawaiian flowers, posters of beach scenery, colorful ceiling lights, and a large DJ stand. A popular song was playing at top volume and a table in the back was set up with cookies and cups of fruit punch. To most of the kids there, especially the younger ones, it seemed like their school had become a tropical-themed heaven. To Philip, it was close enough to hell.  
He hated the bright lights, hated the ear-splitting popular songs, hated the store-brand Oreos and fruit punch, hated that there was nowhere in peace where he could sit and write or just simply observe everyone else. He regretted his decision to come. He only wanted to please his mother and Theodosia. Why did this have to be his method for doing that?  
Where was Theo, anyway? Philip looked up. The room was so crowded, he could barely see who was five feet in front of him, much less spot his smaller, nine-year-old friend. Sighing, he tried to squirm through the masses to get to the farthest away spot from the DJ as possible, when a hand grabbed his shoulder.  
“Ahh!” Philip exclaimed, jumping and tuning to see Theodosia’s chipper face.  
“Hi!” She yelled. It was so loud in the cafeteria that Philip could barely hear his friend.  
“How can you like coming to these? This is horrible!” He whined, again screaming for her to hear.  
Theodosia didn’t seem offended. Instead, she smirked. “Come on,” she said, her voice barely audible. “I’ve got something to show you.”  
She pulled Philip away from where they were standing, through the crowds, and to the door that led to the hallway. A teacher was standing there, and stepped in front of the exit. “Woah, kids. Where are you going?”  
Philip opened his mouth to respond, but Theodosia cut him off. “Philip has to go to the bathroom and doesn’t want to go alone because the school is so empty. I’m going to go with him so he doesn’t get lost.”  
The teacher smiled. “Okay, but don’t go too far into the school.”  
Theo returned the grin. “Alright, thank you!” She headed into the hallway, and Philip followed tentatively. They went down a hall that led away from the cafeteria, and partway down had a door that Philip had never seen before.  
“Teacher's’ Lounge,” Theo said, as if she recognized Philip’s confusion.  
“But… we’re not allowed-”  
“They don’t lock it, and no one will be in here now.” She reached for the handle. “It’ll be quiet. We can hang out.”  
Philip nodded a little, but glanced behind him. This felt wrong, they were breaking the rules, and what if a teacher came by and saw them? But no- the coast was clear. The teacher in the cafeteria’s view was blocked. “Wait,” he said, reaching out to stop Theo from opening the door. “How do you know all this? About it being safe and unlocked, I mean?”  
A sly smile crept onto Theo’s face. “I have… connections. My grandpa used to be the principal, remember. My father’s had to have meetings here sometimes, because the staff know him, and I… well, I may have eavesdropped just a little...”  
Philip couldn’t help it: he grinned a bit. “Okay, if we don’t get caught.” He released his hold on her arm and she pushed open the door.  
The Teacher’s Lounge was small and smelled like old milk, but it was cozy. After Theodosia closed the door, the music was quieted, and they were alone.  
“See? I told you it’d be peaceful.”  
“I can still hear the music,” he pointed out stubbornly.  
“Yeah, but it’s a better volume now, right?” She was right. It felt to Philip like the volume he would normally play his music at- which was surprising, seeing as how they were all the way down a hallway from the cafeteria and had the door closed. The two kids sat in silence for a little while Philip examined the room. Theo had obviously been in here before, but Philip had never. The second graders’ art was hung around the sink area. There was a refrigerator and- Philip rejoiced- a vending machine against one wall and a table with some chairs against the other. He had to admit, it was a nice hideaway.  
“Hey,” Theodosia said, setting down on the table a small purse that she’d been carrying around with her. “It’s the Cha Cha Slide. Wanna dance?”  
“No,” Philip retorted. He’d always hated the Cha Cha Slide. He always felt like he was messing up the steps and everyone was watching him.  
Theodosia put on a fake pouty face. “Come on… please?” Philip laughed. “No one can judge you here.”  
“You could.”  
“I won’t.”  
Philip suppressed a smile. “Fine,” he whined. He got up and Theo grabbed his arm while they started to do the simple step. “I feel ridiculous,” he complained.  
“No one cares.”  
“Hey!”  
There was Theo’s sly smile back on her face. “I’m just trying to have some fun.”  
“I’d rather have food. Do you have money for the vending machine?”  
“Maybe.”  
“You do.”  
“Yeah, I do. I guess we can stop, if we must.” She over exaggerated her whining tone, and Philip guessed she didn’t really care about doing the dance, but just wanted something to do. He took the dollar she handed him and bought a bag of M&Ms. Theo bought a Reese’s bar and sat down at the table next to Philip. They sat in awkward silence except for the Slide playing for a few seconds, until Philip broke it.  
“So.”  
“So.”  
“Hello.”  
“Hi.”  
“Where’s George?” The question was random, but Philip had just realized the absence of their usual companion.  
Theo shrugged. “He had a baseball game to go to.” Philip nodded. He hadn’t particularly cared about where George was in the first place. In fact, he was enjoying Theo’s company more than usual, as he usually did when it was just the two of them. The rift between him and George never seemed to go away. But he had learned to ignore it, pretend that only Theodosia and him were the ones that mattered. George had such different opinions about anything, from what the boys liked to do to how they reacted to things to their daily life. Philip tolerated him, and vice versa, but Philip liked it more when it was just him and Theodosia. It was easier.  
“So what do you want to do?” Theodosia asked.  
Philip shrugged. “I don’t know. Can we just…” He looked around. It was quiet, they were alone, and he just wanted to be with Theo for a while without any barriers. “Can we just stay here for a while?”  
Theo smiled. “Sure,” She turned her chair so that she was facing Philip. “Did I ever tell you about what my dad told me about when he…”  
And so they sat there, a beaming grin on Theo’s face and a small amused look on Philip’s, talking, talking, talking until they finally headed back to the cafeteria, sneaking past the teacher and finding their parents. But even as they were parting ways, Philip was glad he had come to the Sock Hop, and glad he had Theodosia in his life.


	6. There Is Something To Be Said

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Possibly the cheesiest thing I've ever written. Honestly this chapter is full of regret.

*****May- the Hamilton household, as Philip gets home from school*****

It was on June 5th that Philip received the letter from Theodosia. She had been away from school for the past week- he assumed that she was sick- and the two hadn’t talked in several days, though Philip had sent a letter asking about her well-being, to which he never got any reply.  
On June 5th, however, a letter did arrive. It was at Philip’s place at the kitchen table, where his mother always put the mail that came for him. On Friday as he rushed in after his day of school, he noticed it.  
“Is that for me? It’s from Theodosia!” He exclaimed, full of excitement as he grabbed it and started to open it. What he didn’t notice was his mother’s face falling. Eliza Hamilton had already heard the news.  
Philip’s face shone as he recognized Theo’s scribbled penmanship. The ten-year-old was not allowed to use the family computer to send emails, so she often sent paper letters instead. She didn’t care about saving time; she wrote quickly, as did Philip, and neither of them ever found any time to make their letters neat. George always wrote slowly and carefully. But George was not on Philip’s mind right now- only Theodosia was. He smiled as he began to read.

Dear Philip,  
I’m sorry I missed school this week but it’s kind of important. My mom was sick for a long time and she died. This is hard to write. I’m sorry.  
I didn’t want to tell you right away but daddy said you wrote a letter and thought I was sick so I thought I should tell you. I might not be at school for a while. I have to stop. I can’t write about it. I’m sorry, Philip. I’m sorry.  
Your friend,  
Theodosia Burr

No, this couldn’t be true. It couldn’t. Frantically, Philip reread the short letter, praying that somehow the words would change, that it would be fake, that it wouldn’t be real, but it was. No matter how many times he read it, it stayed the same. It was only then that Philip noticed the teardrop marks scarring the paper. A second later, a tear of his own fell, landing on the word “died” and smudging it. No, no. She couldn’t be dead. Theodosia’s mother couldn’t be dead.  
“Philip?” Eliza asked tenderly, reaching out to her son, but he turned away, not looking up, he tore out of the room and up the stairs to his room, now not only crying but bawling, wailing, not caring if he woke his brother John, not caring if he disturbed his sister Angelica from her work, not caring if four-year-old James was scared by the wail, they should be scared, they should be awake and paying attention, Theo’s mother is dead, Theo’s mother is dead-!  
He looked up. He was at his window, eyes red from crying, body shaking a little. He had only met Theodosia the Elder a few times, barely even made her acquaintance, but he was worried about Theo, his friend. Would she ever be happy again? No one in his immediate family had died during his lifetime. He didn’t know what it was like.  
Philip wasn’t sure whether he should respond to Theo’s letter or not. On one hand, she might need consolation. He could send her a poem, maybe, or possibly even pay her a visit. On the other, she was most likely distraught and didn’t want him intruding. As close as they were, Philip could see how she’d want to be left alone.  
But he couldn’t just let it be. In the end, he decided to write her a poem back and then let her be.

There is something to be said  
For the dead tree in winter.  
When its leaves fall and its branches become bare  
The whole forest mourns with a frost  
The animals bury themselves and sleep through the pain  
The pines’ arms sag with the weight of sorrow.  
But what else?  
Vibrant birds brighten its barren branches.  
A squirrel finds refuge in it.  
A faun rests peacefully underneath.  
There is something to be said  
For the dead tree in winter.  
The forest fills with unyielding sadness  
But then it  
Finds  
New  
Hope.

Theodosia- I’m sorry about your mother. I hope you are okay.  
Your friend,  
Philip Hamilton

**Author's Note:**

> Hello fandom. Hopefully you're enjoying this story so far. This is my first work here on Ao3, but I have this plus two oneshots as TelepathicTimelord180 if you're interested. They'll all be uploaded to here eventually. I hope you enjoy, and please let me know what you liked in each chapter and how I can improve in the comments! Thanks everyone you're great enjoy


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